Pictured above: Puffin in Bloom edition of Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

Here at The Bookly Club September is the season when we visit (or revisit) a scholastic classic. Normally this is when we’re heading back to school and dreaming of school supplies. But again, this school year will be looking very different. However, we still have the books we love! So for September we’ve picked a beloved classic.

And what is there really to say about our September book? First published on June 13th, 1908, this book and its characters have taken on a life of their own. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery has been translated into 36 languages, sold over 50 million copies, and is one of the best-selling books of all time. And yet, I’ve never read it! I’ve watched the 1980’s series, and the latest adaptation Anne with an E on Netflix, but I’ve never read the book. So for many of us this will be a re-read, but for some of us this will be a long overdue first read!

Lucy Maude Montgomery

Lucy Maud (L.M.) Montgomery was a Canadian-born author who grew up in the town of Cavendish on Prince Edward Island. A dreamy place we hope to visit someday (girls’ weekend 2022!?).

She was raised by her grandparents, and lived a rather lonely childhood. But this fostered in her a great imagination and creativity. The setting and many of the characters in Anne’s story were directly inspired by Montgomery’s childhood on Prince Edward Island. So much so, that there are now tourist sites on the island dedicated specifically to Anne of Green Gables, and provincial license plates once bore her picture.

Montgomery wrote this series for all ages. And it begins with the story of an 11-year-old orphan with red hair named Anne. She’s mistakenly sent to two siblings in the fictional town of Avonlea on Prince Edward Island. Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert were hoping to adopt a boy into their family to help with farm work and Anne is far from what they’d expected. But what begins as a mistake, soon turns into a heart-warming story of belonging, home, community and the universal pains of growing up. We’re very excited to start this in fall. It seems like the perfect time for a visit to Avonlea.

We hope you’ll join us! Reading along is pretty easy, here’s how …

1. Pick up a copy from where ever you get your books, and read along with us anytime between now and the end of September
2. Keep us posted on social using #booklymark and tagging @thebooklyclub
3. Stay tuned for our discussion post on Instagram and/or our reviews here on the blog to share our thoughts

Hope to hear from you soon!
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